4(C)(iv). Right to legal capacity
The CRPD guaranteed that all people with mental health issues have a right to make decisions in their lives, and that they should be supported to make their own decisions. Article 12 of the CRPD requires that the government ensures that their decisions are recognised and protected.46 Removing from people with mental health issues the right to make decisions about how to live their life exposes them to harm, including in healthcare settings where refusal to consent to treatment is ignored. MDAC’s research on the right to legal capacity in Kenya has found that relatives and medical practitioners frequently make decisions for people with mental health issues regardless of the will or preference of the person concerned, which constitutes a violation of Article 12.47
Photo: A spiritual healer’s centre in Mumbwa, Central Province. 28 October 2012. © MDAC.
46 Ibid. Article 12 (1), (2) and (3).
47 In March 2014, MDAC produced a report on the right to legal capacity in Kenya. It found that decision-making rights of people with mental health issues were frequently restricted by custom rather than law, by family members and members of the local community. Mental Disability Advocacy Center, The Right to Legal Capacity in Kenya, (Budapest: 2014).